The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-11-04
CALIFORNIA VENEERs.
The Beauty and Durability of Pacific COas


me beauty ana Durability OF racine COAST
Sycamore.
California sycamore is a wood that
is as little known as it is handsome.
1t has the appearance of quantities of
fine vertical lines, close together and
generally wavy 1t looks very much
like the Eastern beechwoOd, and before
its value for finishing and decorating
was discovered it was used for cigar
boxes. 1t is called buttOn-wood in
New York. Sycamore is used princi-
pally for veneering, as it is very strong
and can be cut easily. 1t is "a very I'M
ostentatious wood, being rather fine in
its markings and quiet in its shades.
For fancy decoration, panels of fur
niture, doors and other places where a
highly-marked wood is required, the
redwood, laurel, sycamore and walnut
are greatly used. They are handsomely
marked. The redwood is probably the
most used, as it is not only cheap, but
is very beautiful. More variety can be
found in this wood than in any other
The walnut is still used. but it is grad
ually giving place to the fancier and
more modern woods. The tendency
nowadays is to make furniture from
lighter and more fancier material than
formerly, and the sombre, gloomy
walnut, with it's massive appearance,
is gradually giving place to the lighter
woods.
The finishing of a house is usually
done by veneers, as it is cheaper and
just as satisfactory as solid wood The
wood is cut into veneers of about one
eighth of an inch in thickness, and
they are then planned and polished until
reduced to the required dimension. In
very hard woods, such as the mahOga-
ny, the veneers are very thin indeed,
being n thirty-second of an inch in
thickness and often thinner. The pol
ishing is a slow and somewhat labori-
ious job, and is often performed by n
skilled and special man. 1t is done by
rubbing the wood with boiled linseed
oil until it assumes a high polish.
Only hard woods can be used, because
others do not take a good polish, nor
do they last for any length of time.
1t is only within the last eight years
that the finishing of houses in natural
woods has come into prominence at
all, and up to a very fewa years ago
this style of interior decoration was
used by few except the rich and
aesthetic, but of late it has sprung into
deserved prominence. When two or
more woods are combined the effect is
often very handsome, and the many
who are using this method of finishing
attest to its popularity.
The wood must be cut so as to bring
out the figure of the markings of the
wood, otherwise it is worthless. To do
this requires great skill and knowledge
of the various woods. Occasionally an
apparently worthless piece of wood is
found that will contain some very fine
and striking markings, in which case
somebody usually makes q small for
tune, for the prettier the markings the
more valuable the wood. The wood
generally used comes from Santa Cruz.
Occasionally piece is found that will
contain some perfect figure, such as an
animal, head or some geometrical
figure This wood is, of course, very
valuable and greatly priced,
The figuring in wood is generally at
tributed to the fact that the bark of
tree outgrows the interior, and then be-
comes wrinkled it its attempts to fit it.
self to the tree. The tree comes to its
assistance and attempts to fill up the
wrinkles, thus causing the markings.
Woods that grow in well-watered soil
are always most highly marked on this
account n1C- MilL Gazette.